March 07, 2013

OHSU Study

According to a recent Oregon Health;
Science University study, nearly 20% of people who underwent low back fusion
surgery developed post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Past studies have
noted PTSD symptoms in some trauma, cancer and organ transplant patients. This
is believed to be the first study to monitor for PTSD symptoms in patients
undergoing an elective medical procedure.

The OHSU study, of 73 patients, found
that the majority of patients in the study reported a good experience and had
substantial relief of their pre-operative pain, even though spinal fusion is
major surgery that may involve complications and a long recuperation period.

While the strongest factor in
predicting PTSD symptoms was depression or anxiety before the surgery, some
patients who had no such pre-surgery diagnosis also suffered PTSD symptoms.

This study emphasizes two principles:

that all possible therapy may be tried before resorting to surgery as the final
option, and institute pre-surgery interventions that might work best to reduce
or eliminate and PTSD effects.